Slush Molding

Slush molding is a closely related but somewhat different technique to dip molding and is used for the production of flexible and semi-rigid moldings where a detailed surface finish is required on the outside of the molding. Whereas a male former or tool is used to produce a dip molding reproducing the tool surface on the inside of the molding, slush molding enables you to produce the fine detail effects on the outside of the molding using a hollow female mold or tool, in effect, the reverse of dip molding.

The mold is pre-heated then filled with liquid material to a pre-determined level, subsequently the curing process starts resulting in the desired wall thickness. The remaining liquid material is then decanted and final curing takes place, after which the tool is cooled and the finished molding is stripped from the mold.

The process needs either fabricated steel, cast or machined aluminum tools and it is because such tooling in inexpensive, by comparison with, for instance, injection or blow molding, that small and medium quantities can be molded allowing considerable design freedom. Typical applications are toys, dolls heads, suspension covers, mannequin models, containers, balls, large gaiters and many others.